Magus's Mirrors
by PhoenixStargirl
Summary: Sequel to 'The Time Architect.' The Doctor takes Emily on a journey to an entirely different Galaxy in the future where they find a new problem staring at them in the face. Rated T for dialogue in future chapters. R&R please!
1. Prologue: Only the Beginning

Disclaimer: The Doctor Who ideas, main characters, and places all mentioned in the BBC show do not belong to me. They belong to BBC. The only things that belong to me are the new characters and the story line. Enjoy.

**A/N: This story is the sequel to The Time Architect.  
**

* * *

_Doctor Who: Magus's_ _Mirrors_

Prologue: Only the Beginning

_Once upon a time in a far away land two brothers lived happily together. Their names: Jacob and Wilhelm._

_They weren't exactly famous at the time, but they were known in the small area of the country where they lived. They were known for their large story book they carried around, filled with tales of misfortune, mischief, woes, and magic. Stories that, up until recently, the likes had only been heard of before in solitary places scattered worldwide._

_The brothers loved telling their stories; it didn't matter to them whether or not their names were famous. They simply wanted their stories to last for future generations to enjoy._

_Centuries, even thousands of years, after their death their stories still remained, not only in the place of their birth but far and wide across galaxies and the entirety of the universe as well. Their stories never died._

_In fact, on one planet in the vast universe, the stories themselves had a life of their own._

"So are things always as chaotic as they were in London? Or was I just lucky and that was only half as bad as it could get?"

The Doctor had already flipped the switch and they were off, away from what Emily had known as present-day London and off into the entirety of the Universe. After the adventure of the Time Architect, she couldn't imagine going back to her old life; doing nothing with her friends on the weekends and working on chores for her sister while she uselessly searched for another job.

"Oh, time has its ups and downs," the Doctor replied, turning a dial on the control panel. "You just have to know the right place to look is all."

"So where are we going?" Emily inquired, practically bouncing inside with anticipation and excitement while on the outside she remained completely calm. She didn't want to look like a fool and make the Doctor think he had chosen a child to come aboard with him.

"I know just the place." That smile Emily was starting to find adorable rather than quirky grew on the Doctor's face. "Planet Kalpana, in the Gemini system, year 59,304."

"What's there?" Emily asked, the excitement growing in her, her eyes lighting up so much she couldn't hide it even if she tried to this time.

"There," the Doctor answered, flipping a switch, "lies only the beginning of our adventure." The TARDIS gave a huge jolt before flying off toward their destination.


	2. The Forgotten Town

Disclaimer: The Doctor Who ideas, main characters, and places all mentioned in the BBC show do not belong to me. They belong to BBC. The only things that belong to me are the new characters and the story line. Enjoy.

* * *

_Doctor Who: Magus's_ _Mirrors_

Chapter 1: The Forgotten Town

"Its so beautiful!"

Emily couldn't hold back her excitement any longer as she stepped out of the darker confines of the TARDIS and into the bright sunlight of the the planet of Kalpana. It was a beautiful surrounding of a pure white beach and cool turquoise waves washing onto the shore.

The breeze was soft and cool, blowing Emily's hair about. She was practically bouncing as turned her back on the horizon and gazed upon the backdrop of the picturesque scene. A large city backed up the beach by a good fifty yards. It was absolutely stunning, and the silence in the place was so that you could hear a bird a mile off.

"What year did you say this was?" Emily asked, turning back to the Doctor.

"59,304 I believe," the Doctor answered, putting on his spectacles. His eyes were on the city, but there was an odd look about them.

"What is it?" Emily asked, coming up next to the Doctor.

"Its quiet," he commented. "Too quiet. Tell me, Emily. What do you notice about the city?"

Emily watched the city, a little confused at what she was supposed to be seeing. "It's quiet," she repeated. Then she finally realized why it was so quiet. "The town's completely empty."

"Completely deserted," he confirmed, walking toward it, Emily on his heels. "No one at all."

It was as if they had stepped into the suspenseful part of a movie and something. Awaiting the antagonist to jump out and start attacking them. Only not a single soul jumped out to attack them; the town was deserted. And the Doctor ruined it with is sarcastic-matter-of-fact comment.

"I just said that," Emily said, slightly annoyed he was repeating her like she hadn't said anything at all.

"I know," the Doctor replied. "I was just trying to emphasize the point."

"Well, it's not working," Emily said, following him into the center square of the forgotten town. She looked around at each building in turn, hoping to catch a glimpse of movement from some dweller inside, but having no such luck. "You're just being annoying again."

"I resent that," the Doctor replied indignantly, pulling out his sonic screwdriver.

"What are you going to do with that?" Emily inquired, glancing back at him before looking around at the desolate town again.

The ground was complete grass and the buildings that lined the streets looked more like wooden cottages out of a make believe story than a real town. It was a beautiful sight though, however empty it was.

"This doesn't make any since," the Doctor claimed, shaking his screwdriver and holding it to his ear. "There are traces of people still here. They're gone, but they haven't been gone very long."

"Maybe they're in the buildings?" Emily suggested, making a B-line for the nearest cozy 'antique' shop.

"Emily," the Doctor called, hurrying to follow after her. "Rule number one! No running off!"

"I'm not running off if you know where I'm going," Emily called back to him, opening the door to the small shop and stepping inside. "Hello?"

The little shop was completely deserted of people. It did, however, contain many assortment of items: music boxes, jewelry boxes, jewelry, chairs, tables, desks, fabric, clothes, towels, full length mirrors, paper weights, lamps, busts, masks, books, and a number of other items she couldn't even name. The only thing that wasn't crammed into the shop was food and shoppers. Nor even a store keeper.

"Oh, I love little stores like this," Emily admired, looking over each little thing with delicate care. "Are you sure this isn't earth? It still looks a lot like it, and those who keep this shop keep it very similar to how they keep antique shops back home."

"Of course not," the Doctor replied, moving toward the clerk desk and looking around. "This planet is just very close to 'past' Earth culture. I didn't think you needed a huge species shock on your first journey."

Emily smiled at the Doctor. "You're so sweet."

"I wonder where the clerk would have gotten to," he wondered aloud, completely ignoring Emily's comment.

This hurt her feelings somewhat. He completely ignored her when she took the time to give him a compliment, but when she said something he didn't like, he was right on top of her like a bee on a flower.

"Maybe he stepped out for lunch?" Emily suggested. She didn't really fancy the idea of a deserted ghost town. It was a little too suspicious.

"And leave the store open?" the Doctor asked, confirming Emily's unkind suspicions. "No, my sonic screwdriver is detecting some sort of psyconic energy."

"And when has your amazing sonic screwdriver ever been wrong?" Emily asked sarcastically.

"It hasn't," the Doctor replied calmly.

Emily gave a inward laugh, going back to looking at each little item. "What's psyconic energy?"

"Brain wave energy sent of from the residents of this planets," the Doctor explained, putting his screwdriver back to his ear and pressing the button, sending off a morris code sounding noise pattern. "Something you may have heard in science fiction books as psychic power."

"People hear actually have psychic power?" Emily asked, amazed.

"These aren't people," the Doctor reminded her. "They come from a different planet at a different time."

"Oh," Emily said, feeling slightly stupid for forgetting. "Right. So what can psyconic power do?"

The Doctor continued his search with the sonic screwdriver in every nook and cranny of the store, not touching any one of the merchandise there.

"Oh, all sorts of things. It depends on the power of the beholder. You can do something as small as speaking without moving your lips, or something as huge as creating portals to travel to different places to. Right now, though, reading psyconic energy without anyone to produce it is slightly disturbing, so I would appreciate you being quiet a moment longer while I think."

"My apologies, Doctor," Emily mumbled, looking back out the window into the empty street again.

It was an eerie emptiness. She knew no one was there, no one could be there. There were no sounds, no people to be seen. And yet the entire time she had the feeling she was being watched by someone.

"Have you ever come across people disappearing like this?" Emily asked the Doctor.

"Yes," the Doctor replied, his voice slightly colder than usual. "In the biggest library in the universe during the fifty-first century."

"Do you think something similar happened here?"

"No," he answered. "There people were saved into a computer hard drive to save them from the Vashta Nerada." He then added to help her confused look. "They infest the darkness and rip flesh from bone in less than a second."

Emily swallowed. "That's impossible."

"Oh, really?" the Doctor asked with a raised eyebrow.

Emily knew better than to contradict him again. Although she hadn't seen anything as bizarre and scary as he was describing, she had seen enough to know not to doubt him.

"Was someone with you during that trip as well?" Emily asked curiously.

"Yes," the Doctor answered, going back to trying to work with his sonic screwdriver. "Donna. Her name was Donna. Donna Noble."

Emily thought for a moment. "She's the one who had to go back home, isn't she?" Emily asked, curiosity getting the better of her. "Why?"

For a moment the Doctor looked like he wasn't even going to answer her. He was too busy meddling with his sonic screwdriver.

"Because if she didn't she was going to be seriously hurt," he finally admitted. "She would have died in seconds."

Emily frowned, not particularly liking the direction the conversation was going, and she could tell the Doctor didn't really either. So she changed the yet topic again.

"So, are you very familiar with disappearing 'cases'?" she asked.

The Doctor thought about this for a moment. "I've had a fair few instances."

"Give an example," Emily replied, glad to see he seemed to be thankful for the change of topic as well.

"Agatha Christie."

Emily gave him a disbelieving look. "You were there when Agatha Christie disappeared before appearing near a hotel with no recollection of what happened?"

The Doctor gave one of his quirky smiles. "And the disappearance of supposedly the best chess player in the world. Although the 'best chess player' part is debatable is debatable."

"Bobby Fischer?" Emily crossed her arms with a raised eyebrow, rather impressed. "And I suppose you also know about the disappearance of Amelia Earhart?"

The Doctor gave her an odd look crossed between pride in her appraisal and humblenes. "I don't know about every single disappearance, Emily."

"I suppose not every single disappearance," Emily agreed. "That would take up over several lifetimes, something you couldn't have done with your age."

"I'm over 900 years old," he corrected her. "So it could be very much possible. However, that being said, I wouldn't have much room for other time traveling adventures, would I?"

Emily shook her head. "Doctor, you never cease to amaze me. You certainly don't look 900. You don't even look a day over forty."

"Time Lord trick," the Doctor told her, turning back to his screwdriver again. He was pretending as though her compliment wasn't a compliment at all, simply some random unimportant fact.

Emily didn't understand why he acted like this. It wasn't as though she was trying to flirt with him, merely pay him a compliment since he seemed sad and lonely all the time. Then again, it seemed as though his last companion was forced to leave on pain of death. Literally.

"How many other recent companions have you had?" Emily asked, not really wanting to pry into his business, but curious all the same. "Not like one or two trips, but helped you out like Donna had."

"Well," the Doctor admitted after a rather pregnant pause. "There was Martha Jones. She was a good friend. She was always there. And Rose. Rose Tyler."

"Where are they now?" Emily inquired.

"Martha's engaged. Well, was engaged. She's probably married by now. And Rose," he took a breath at this. "Rose is fine. With her family, living happily."

Emily could see right through this. Although Rose, Martha, and even Donna might have been fine, he, the Doctor, certainly wasn't. She could tell by the look in his eyes at the mention of their names, specifically Rose's, there was a sort of lost longing mixed with deep regret.

It was no wonder the Doctor was such a lonely man. Every one of his companions seemed to drift off leaving the Doctor to travel the Universe by himself. And the Universe was such a vast place.

Emily watched the Doctor as he moved out of the shop and into the street again. She followed him, though more at a distance so as to give him his space. After all, she had obviously touched a soft spot and wanted to give him time to recuperate himself before approaching him with a changed subject once again.

Although Emily knew she was snooping around in his business with these questions, she had a need inside of her to know this information. She moved down the opposite side of the street looking in all of the windows of the dwellings there, her mind unable to wander away from the Doctor.

Emily felt as though she needed to know these things because there might have been a time in the future where she would have to leave as well. The idea, though, was sickening because she didn't want to leave the Doctor alone again. Would she leave to begin a life, as Martha had? Or would she return to a family who loved her, like Rose? Or would she be forced to leave, as Donna was?

Emily didn't know the answer to any of these questions, nor did she want to think about it at the moment. All she wanted was to help the Doctor find out what was going on here on this strange planet. If, of course, she was able to help.

A new, more worrisome thought swirled in Emily's mind, one she couldn't shake off no matter how hard she tried. Would she even be as much help as the other three had? Or was she just going to be a bother and get in the way? She hoped that wasn't the latter, because she didn't know if she would be able to stand the Doctor forcing her to go home for being an annoying brat.


	3. Dimitrius

Disclaimer: The Doctor Who ideas, main characters, and places all mentioned in the BBC show do not belong to me. They belong to BBC. The only things that belong to me are the new characters and the story line. Enjoy.

* * *

_Doctor Who: Magus's_ _Mirrors_

Chapter 2: Dimitrius

"Doctor!"

Emily's voice rang through the open air like a bell. It seemed like they had been searching for hours in the desolate town, but it had hardly been one. And now, it seemed, their hard work of searching had paid off. Or at least Emily hoped it had.

"Emily? What is it?" She could hear the Doctor hurrying over to find out what exactly she was yelling about.

Emily was standing in an alleyway. She held her hand out to silence the Doctor as he approached, informing him to listen closely.

"Do you hear that?" she inquired curiously.

No, there was no mistaking it this time. Someone was crying.

It was a soft cry, that of a child, but it was still the sound of a voice weeping in fear and sadness. It seemed the desolate town wasn't so forgotten after all.

The Doctor nodded, putting his finger to his lips to unnecessarily inform Emily to keep silent. He crept quietly further down the narrow space between the buildings, looking around every barrel and crate that had been left there. He finally came to a halt at the end, peering around one certain pile of boxes.

"Hello there," he said in a kind and friendly voice.

Emily was rooted on the spot, torn between curiosity of who, or what, exactly the Doctor was talking to, and fear of the exact same thing. What sort of creatures lived on this planet? Were they hostile to humans?

These thoughts caused the next few bits of the conversation to remain unheard, but she was drawn back to what was going on in the present when the Doctor bent over to pick up whatever he had been talking to.

To her mild amazement, he stood up, carrying a small boy in his arms, no older than four years old. He looked like a human, but then so did the Doctor. When the Doctor brought him over, Emily could see one large difference between this boy and a human upon further inspection. This child had a pair of bright violet eyes peering curiously at her.

"Looks like he's the only one left," the Doctor informed her quietly, causing her gaze to pull away from the boy's and back to his own. "He doesn't know exactly what happened; only that his mother woke him up in the morning and then five minutes later she had disappeared."

"I wasn't scared," the small boy declared bravely, though she could see by the puffiness of his eyes that he had indeed been frightened to the point of crying.

"What's your name?" Emily asked the small boy gently, unable to suppress a small smile.

The boy grinned back, making him even more adorable than he had been when Emily first set eyes on him. "Dimitrius. But my friends call me D-Tri."

Emily let out a small laugh. "May I call you D-Tri as well?" she asked him.

The boy let out an even wider grin. "Sure! I love making new friends!"

"Not to break the mood," the Doctor interrupted quietly, causing all attention to be on him again, "but we have missing people and usually that isn't a good thing where I come from." He placed his full attention on the small boy. "D-Tri, where was the last place you know your mother was?"

"In her room, getting ready for work," D-Tri answered, his grin subsiding once more as he thought about his missing mother. Emily felt horrible for the child, thinking of what it had been like for her when her parents were no longer around. How much worse it would have been if everyone she had known had disappeared all at once and she was left alone in the world.

"Doctor?" she asked as the Doctor set the child down to lead them to his house. "Do you think this is happening all over this planet?"

"I'm not sure yet." He sounded unnerved for the first time, and Emily didn't quite like that feeling. If the Doctor didn't know, who would? Certainly not this small boy. Such a small thing had to be harmless; he couldn't have done this to the entire town, let alone his own mother.

Emily glanced around the town. How safe were they, her and the doctor, here where people were continuously disappearing. What would happen if they disappeared along with everyone else? Nothing good, she was sure. Emily severely hoped this was one of the easier problems the Doctor had had to deal with in his years. If not, they were in really deep trouble.

"Could you take us to your house?" the Doctor's voice cut through the silence. Emily turned her attention to him yet again.

The D-Tri looked up at the Doctor with wide violet eyes; he was sucking on his thumb in the meantime. After several seconds he nodded, taking his thumb out of his mouth. "I can walk."

"I'm sure you can," the Doctor replied, setting him down. D-Tri, however, didn't let the Doctor's hand go as he was set down. Instead he grabbed Emily's hand in his free one and walked between the two of them.

Emily felt her cheeks burn slightly, something that had nothing to do with the weather. She was glad that nobody else seemed to notice. Just the idea that the three of them walking down the street seemed to paint a picture that read 'family,' something she really didn't want to associate herself with at the moment. The Doctor was nothing more than a friend. Period.

Dimitrius, however, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself, skipping between Emily and the Doctor. It was the only thing that kept Emily from yanking her hand away. Instead, she kept her face strait and ahead of her.

"There it is!" the boy's voice rang out, letting go of the Doctor and Emily's hand before pointing at a small house and running almost at full speed towards it. Emily couldn't help but give a small giggle. Little kids were too cute.

"I'm sorry," she heard the Doctor whisper. She turned to look at him.

"About what?" she asked, slightly confused.

"I should have warned you. Kalpanans are extremely friendly," he explained. "They usually don't think about personal space with strangers. Especially the younglings."

"Kalpanans?" Emily asked, slightly confused.

The Doctor nodded. "We're on the planet Kalpana, remember?"

"Oh, right. Of course." Emily shook her head. "It's alright. I don't mind, really. He was actually quite adorable. Little children always are."

"Are you guys coming?" Dimitrius's voice called from the porch of his house.

Emily gave a small laugh though decided maybe it would be better if she and the Doctor cut the small talk until after they figured out what exactly was going on in this place. They quickly made their way over to the house, saying little more on the matter.

Dimitrius was waiting for them, hopping impatiently on the balls of his feet. As the two companions stepped onto the porch, he reached up on his tip toes to try to grab the door handle. Unfortunately for him, he was too small, and his fingers barely grazed the brass. The Doctor reached out and opened the door for him. The child quickly disappeared into the depths of the house. Emily followed the Doctor in, and had to blink a few times to get her eyes adjusted to the house.

Having been out in the bright sunlight most of the morning, the house seemed quite dim. The walls were all a dull shade of gray and the floors were hard cement. And Emily had once thought that the tile floors in her bathroom were bad.

"Where was the last place your mum was?" the Doctor asked, breaking the silence.

"In her room, getting ready," D-Tri informed them both. "I was in my room."

"D-Tri, why don't you show me your mother's room?" the Doctor suggested. "And show Emily here your room?"

Dimitrius brightened at the idea. "Okay!" He quickly grabbed hold of Emily's hand and dragged her up the stairs. "Mum's room is up here too!"

Emily steadied herself going up the steps, they were much steeper than the ones she was used to, and falling down them wouldn't be a pleasant thing at all. She was all too glad when they reached the second floor.

"That's mum's room," D-Tri pointed off to a door that was left open. Peering inside, Emily could see florescent white walls, a bed and a large floor mirror. She would have taken more time to see the rest of the room, but she was already being pulled off down the hall. She turned her head as the Doctor went inside of the mother's room for further investigation.

"My room is this way!"

Emily couldn't help but smile, following the boy at a jog. He was really fast for such a small boy. Once again, the handle was a little high for him, so Emily opened the door.

The walls were a pale blue and the floor was littered with all sorts of toys, or what Emily supposed were toys. She looked around; it looked like an ordinary bedroom. There was one window, locked shut from the inside, she noted. The bed was set out on the floor so nothing could be stored underneath. Instead of a closet there was a wardrobe and a dresser. A desk sat in one corner. And against the opposite corner was another floor mirror.

Emily frowned slightly. Everywhere she went, there seemed to be the exact same mirrors. She walked on over to it to take a closer look.

It looked like a perfectly normal mirror encased in a magnificently carved wooden frame. Upon further inspection she could see why a child would want this particular mirror. All along the sides were carved candies: peppermints, gumdrops, candy canes, lollipops, and wrapped gumballs. Along the top were swirls of what Emily supposed were supposed to be cakes. Directly in the center top was a small house concealed in a circle.

"Mummy got me that mirror," Dimitrius's voice broke through the silence, walking over next to her.

Emily turned away from the mirror and smiled down at him. "It's a very pretty mirror, D-Tri," she replied honestly. It actually reminded her of an old fairy tale her sister and she used to read in a book when she was little.

Laughing to herself, thinking there were no way those sorts of stories could have made it anywhere in the universe besides earth, Emily moved away from the mirror and sat down on the bed, watching Dimitrius.

"Everyone has mirrors now," he replied his back reflecting in the image behind him. "There's a guy way back in the woods behind down who makes all of them himself. He's really good. Every single one of them is different. Mummy has one in her room."

"I can tell," Emily smiled. She glanced away from the mirror and toward the door, still open. Unfortunately she couldn't see Dimitrius's mum's room. She would have loved to know what was going on in there, or at least help out the Doctor. She turned back to give Dimitrius a smile but she couldn't.

Emily jumped off the bed, staring at the empty floor in front of the mirror where Dimitrius had been. He had simply vanished in the two seconds she had glanced away.

"D-Tri?" she asked in a worried voice.

He couldn't have hidden under the bed; it was planted on the floor. And her eyes had been on the door, so he couldn't have left. The window was still locked shut from the inside. The wardrobe was on the other side of the room, and in the time it would have taken to get there, the boy certainly would have made noise over his toys. Emily quickly walked over anyway, opening it and checking inside. No Dimitrius.

Emily turned back to where the boy had been. Something she noticed now was that she could see a small shadow in the reflection of the mirror of where the boy had been but no longer was. What in the hell was going on?

Frantically she ran from the room and out of the hallway yelling for the Doctor.


	4. Grimm Abduction

Disclaimer: The Doctor Who ideas, main characters, and places all mentioned in the BBC show do not belong to me. They belong to BBC. The only things that belong to me are the new characters and the story line. Enjoy.

* * *

_Doctor Who: Magus's_ _Mirrors_

Chapter 3: Grimm Abduction

Emily had to squint as she hit the mother's room; the mere brightness of it hurt her eyes. Luckily, she was able to become somewhat adjusted. The room looked normal, almost the same as Dimitrius's except his had been littered with toys. Her eyes fell upon the mirror on the other side of the room.

Emily stayed framed in the doorway, watching the mirror. Just as D-Tri had said, this one was carved differently. She couldn't make out exactly what was carved on the frame itself, but she could have sworn in the top center circle, where the house had been on the boy's frame, there was an apple with a single bite from one side. Emily refused to take one step towards the mirror, as she was not suspecting it wasn't very innocent in this whole deal.

"Why aren't you with Dimitrius?" the Doctor's voice called out. Emily turned to face him for the first time now. The time it took for his expression to turn from of disappointment of her disobedience to concern couldn't have been clocked with a stop watch. "What happened?" he asked seriously this time.

"He disappeared," Emily answered. "One second he was there and the next he was just… gone." I watched him carefully. After a full second he came walking right towards Emily, she practically had to stumble to get out of his way so he wouldn't run her over. Emily took one last worried look at the mirror before following the Doctor down the hall.

"What do you mean, disappeared?" he asked harshly.

Emily couldn't understand why he was directing his anger at her. She didn't make the boy disappear. "He was sitting in front of the mirror. I look away for one second and he's gone."

Either the Doctor hadn't heard her or he didn't believe her, Emily didn't know. But he entered Dimitrius's room with little problem, walking strait for the mirror. This, Emily reasoned with herself, was completely mad if he had heard her at all.

"What if the mirror—"

"Quiet, Emily," he said sternly. Emily didn't dare disobey. Once again she stood framed in the doorway, unwilling to get any closer to the mirror, or say anything that might break the Doctor's concentration. She too much wanted answers at the moment.

"This isn't right," the Doctor mumbled to himself. Emily glanced in the hall to make sure nothing was there before taking a single step into the room. She listened carefully as the Doctor continued, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and tracing it along the outlines of the mirror.

"This is impossibly wrong," he repeated himself. "Neurotranic energy combined with," he paused, looking closer at his reflection in the mirror, "selic glass and borent. There's no way this is possible. This type of technology shouldn't be around."

"What is it, Doctor?" Emily asked, chancing breaking his trance.

"It's a mirror," he replied, still glancing at his reflection, pausing before continuing dramatically. "But not just a mirror. When you combine neurotransic energy with selic and borent, do you know what you get?" He looked at Emily with a raised eyebrow.

Emily shrugged. "A mirror that can abduct people?" she asked, knowing she was probably completely wrong.

"Almost," he replied. He took his finger and wrapped it on the glass, making no unordinary sound. "You get a mirror that can abduct one person," he corrected. "Have you ever read Lutwige's _Through the Looking-Glass_?"

Emily hadn't actually read the book, but she could understand what he was hinting at. "You mean to say," she replied, taking a step closer, "that there's a world on the other side of that mirror? And the entire population of this city, each who have their own mirror, have fallen into it?"

"Exactomundo," the Doctor replied with a queer smirk. "Usually it only takes the person where they want to go, but in this case, it's forcing the person to go where the creator wants them to go: whatever story the mirror is made for. Quite impressive actually. I wonder if the maker is actually doing this on purpose or if it was an accidental discovery."

Emily shook her head; how could someone be making disappear accidentally? More importantly, why was the doctor taking it so lightly? "You really confuse me sometimes, you know that?" she said.

The Doctor turned to her, confused. "What?" he asked in his high, innocent, confused voice which Emily had grown all too accustomed to.

Emily shook her head. "Just… nevermind. Please don't say that word again though. It doesn't really fit you." She took a large breath before exhaling it. "So, everybody fell into Alice's looking glass world."

"No," the Doctor corrected her. "They fell into a world, though which one I'm not sure. Maybe the carvings have something to do with it thought." He took a closer work at the woodcarvings of the frame, muttering to himself so that Emily couldn't quite catch every little thing that he was saying.

"Are you sure we're not going to fall into the mirror?" Emily asked, still a bit worried.

"Absolutely," he replied. He stood back, looking at the frame in confusion. "What kind of world would candy and a house be of any significance? Candy Land?" he chuckled, referencing to the popular child American game.

"Actually," Emily said aloud to no one in particular. "It kind of reminded me of one of the fairy tales I used to read as a kid. The one where the children come across a house made of candies and cakes after being left in the woods by their parents. The father didn't want to leave them, but the step-mother forced them to. And then when they came upon the house, the witch tried to cook them and eat them but—"

"We all know the story of Hansel and Gretel," the Doctor interrupted her, clearly not interested in my retelling of it.

Emily silenced, feeling a tad annoyed. She never interrupted his long rants about quantum mechanics and biochemicitics or whatnot. Why couldn't she reencounter a childhood story? She held her tongue anyway, just to listen to the silence in the air. Had she been able to hear the Doctor's thoughts, she was sure too many would be swirling around so quickly she wouldn't have been able to keep up had her life depended on it.

"What was on the frame in the mother's room?" he asked suddenly, turning to Emily.

Emily shook her head. "I don't know; I wasn't in there long enough to see anything on the mirror except an apple." The Doctor walked passed her and she quickly followed him back into the missing mother's room. Upon closer inspection, Emily could see small birds carved in the top and falling snow among trees lining the tall side frames.

"Snow White," she whispered quietly.

"Grimm Fairy Tales," the Doctor said to himself, though loud enough so Emily could hear. He turned to face her once more. "Whoever is making these mirrors seems to be patterning the details of the frames through Grimm Fairy Tales."

"How would anyone here even know of Grimm Fairy Tales," Emily asked bewildered.

"You'd be surprised," the Doctor answered. "All across the universe species read Grimms' work. Dickens. Christi. They're all famous, not only on your small planet, but everywhere in the entire universe."

"Okay," Emily finally gave in after a deep breath. "I understand; everyone knows them. So you're saying the frames determine what world everyone goes in? As in, if Dimitri was sucked into his frame he's stuck in the story of Hansel and Gretel?" She didn't quite like the thought of the little boy being stuck in a world where a gingerbread house tempted children and witches ate them for lunch.

"Yes," he answered. "And probably not as a side audience. Anyone who's in the story is actually living it as the main characters and not simply watching it."

Emily's stomach dropped. That really wasn't good then. And the mother, she was trapped inside the story of Snow White. She wasn't much better off. A queen killed anyone prettier than herself, even her stepdaughter. She sincerely hoped for the sake of the mother, she wasn't pretty at all.

"Come look at this," the Doctor said, pointing out something on the back of the mirror.

Emily silently walked over to see what exactly he was looking at. Upon further inspection of the back of the mirror she saw what intrigued the Doctor. A single word: _Magus_. What could that mean? Was it a company? The name of the person who made the mirror, perhaps?

Emily thought back to her time with Dimitrius. Hadn't he said something about the person who made these mirrors? Luckily she had been listening well enough that they might be able to make some headway in this mystery.

"Doctor," Emily broke the silence, keeping her voice casual so as not to surprise him. "D-Tri said his mother got the mirrors from the man who made them. He said the man lived by himself in the woods outside the town, and hand carved each mirror separately. D-Tri also said that every person in the town had one, so that makes sense that everyone disappeared." Emily hoped she was right; she'd look like a completely idiot if she wasn't.

"Well, it looks like we've got our heading," the Doctor said, motioning his finger that they should leave. Emily quickly led the way out of the house, waiting for him at the front door before following him. "First, though, we have to make a pit stop at the TARDIS. I want to get something."

The Doctor was moving so quickly now that Emily had to practically run to keep up with him. She knew this was a stressful situation, and they had to hurry, but him being a time Lord, she sometimes wished that walking could be more of a privilege than it really was.

"What are you getting?" Emily asked, working up a small pant as they stopped outside the familiar blue box.

"Wait out here," the Doctor causally ordered as he went inside, leaving the door open ajar.

Emily could hear the obvious sound of things being thrown about and crashing to the metal floor as he was looking for something. A small pause followed before a loud crash issued from inside the TARDIS that forced Emily to cringe.

"I'm alright! I'm alright!" the Doctor's voice came from inside, growing a bit louder. Emily heard footsteps before he appeared in the doorway, a very old and rather large book for her to take.

"What is it?" Emily asked, looking over the cover before looking back up at the Doctor as he locked the TARDIS with his key.

"That's a book of Grimm Fairy Tales," he replied. "I thought a reference might be handy. Especially since we are probably dealing with the problem directly." A small smirk crossed his face as his eyes twinkled.

"Okay," Emily replied with a sarcastic look, "now you're really creeping me out with how excited you are about this."

"Who isn't excited about a good story?" the Doctor asked. "What?" he asked again as Emily merely rolled her eyes in response. She wasn't going to get into a debate about when the time for a good story was. She really doubted this time was one of them.

They both walked together behind the desolate houses where the lush forest began. The sun didn't penetrate through the thick canopy and sounds were coming from it that Emily had only heard in movies. She really hoped it was only her imagination running away with her. Either way, she was sincerely glad the Doctor was there, or else she would have thought she was stepping into one of the forests of the fairy tales herself.

They made their way through the brush, wandering here and there, looking for any sign of a dwelling or that someone lived nearby. It wasn't too terribly long, considering they had little idea of what to look for, before they found it.

"Just like out of a fairy tale," Emily muttered, looking at the sight before her.

In the middle of the heart of the woods, there was a small clearing. The sun shone through as brightly as it did outside the forest. The grass, shrubbery and small brook that ran through the clearing shone brighter than jewels in the light. That wasn't what had caught Emily's attention though.

A small cottage sat in the clearing, soft curls of smoke issuing from the chimney. It was as if the person who lived there had taken it out of one of the Grimm Books. Emily reminded herself he, or she whoever this Magus was, probably had.

She followed the Doctor through the clearing, careful not to fall into the small brook as she jumped over it. Emily didn't feel like walking around with soaking trainers and pant bottoms. She was interested to see what the Doctor would do this time. If he was willing to give a second chance to a crazy woman who was trying to take his place as a time lord, Emily was certain he would do nothing short of offering to have afternoon tea with a person who was abducting innocent civilians into fairytale worlds.

Okay, that was stretching it a bit far, but Emily was certain the Doctor wouldn't simply destroy this person and call it a day's work. He'd give this person another chance no matter how vile or evil this man was. Even if it almost killed them.


	5. Magus

Disclaimer: The Doctor Who ideas, main characters, and places all mentioned in the BBC show do not belong to me. They belong to BBC. The only things that belong to me are the new characters and the story line. Enjoy.

* * *

_Doctor Who: Magus's_ _Mirrors_

Chapter 4: Magus

There was a small muffled sound behind the wooden door after the Doctor had knocked. The two of them waited patiently until the door opened.

"Welcome, to Magus's Personalized Woodshop, claimed for making the finest wood workings on the planet, even a jewelry box for the Duchess. How may I help you?"

Emily looked upon this old man quizzically. If this was the man who had been responsible for the disappearances scratch the evil and vile, she thought. This man didn't look like he could hurt a fly. He had a kind smile and a bright twinkle in his maroon eyes behind his rectangular spectacles that sat on his small yet crooked nose. His hair was white and balding. He was a good two heads shorter than Emily. His monotonic greeting informed Emily he had been saying that small introduction for many years.

"You've made things for the Duchess of Kalpana?" the Doctor asked, obviously impressed. "Oh, you must be really good."

Emily nudged his side with her elbow. "Doctor," she hissed, reminding them they were here for a reason.

"Right," the Doctor said, cutting the old man off before he had had a chance to answer. "We'd like to see your mirrors. Do you have any on you?"

"Oh, come right in," the old man said, turning and hobbling off. His movements reminded Emily of penguins she had seen at the zoo, but soon followed him and the Doctor inside, careful to close the door behind them.

"I'm just finishing two others up," the old man informed them. "I do hope you'll like them. Everyone seems to be buying them lately." He seemed to be very pleased with this small bit of information. And the more Emily seemed to hang around him, the more she doubted he knew exactly what sort of trouble he was causing.

"Are you a fan of the Grimm Fairy tales, Mr. Magus?" the Doctor asked quite suddenly. Emily quickly looked after him, wondering if he was giving too much away.

"Oh, yes," the man said with relish. "I'm quite a fan indeed. In fact, every one of my wood workings has some sort of Grimm theme to it." He then looked at the Doctor quizzically, as if just realizing something. "How did you know I was Magus? You don't look familiar from what I've seen in these parts. And I could be his apprentice or just looking after the shop for him today."

"It's right on your nametag," the Doctor explained, pointing at a shiny green nametag pinned to the right of his chest that clearly spelled out in gold letters: MAGUS. Emily glanced, well that was one way to get a person's name, reading the nametag.

"Oh," Magus said, giving a small chuckle. "It's become such a routine that I forget it's even there." He gave them a sincere smile, before leading them over to where two large frames stood their backs to Emily and the others. "Just over here, follow me."

Emily cautiously stayed behind the Doctor as the two of them slowly walked around the frames with great ease, careful not to get too close to them. Both had yet to have Magus' name carved in the back of them.

"How do you know when they're finished?" Emily asked, glancing at Magus.

"Oh, I always know," he said with a smile, standing back so the two guests could admire his handiwork. "But they're never fully finished until I carve my name in the back. Then everyone will remember where they got their mirrors and will hopefully come back."

Emily gazed at the two mirrors taking in every detail. The one on the right looked completely finished. Emily took a second to glance at her reflection before taking in the frame. Two columns wrapped in thorns supported the sides of the frame, creeping up to the top where in the circle a rose was carved. It took her a moment to think, but then she pieced the puzzle together. This mirror was a reflection of Sleeping Beauty, or Briar Rose as the old tales used to name the story. It was a magnificent mirror, and Emily would have loved to continue admiring it had she not been terrified of the idea of it swallowing her up into its fairytale world.

Emily then turned her attention to the second. The first thing she noticed was that the mirror was far from finished. The framing was completely carved save for the circle in the middle, and the mirror itself was missing. The one side wood piece was a magnificent castle with several layers and a village underneath while the second one, Emily carefully noted was a large clock tower with the hands carefully placed on exactly twelve o'clock. Cinderella, she noted to herself. This one she didn't seem to have to worry about as much, since the mirror was yet to be placed inside the frame.

"What do you think?" Magus's voice asked from behind them. "Each of them hand carved to perfection. You'll never find a better cared for mirror put together anywhere."

"I doubt anyone would," the Doctor said, still glancing at the Briar Rose mirror with interest. Emily tensed slightly when he tapped the mirror itself, and eased as nothing happened. "What do you use for the mirror?"

"My own experimental creation," Magus replied with a toothy smile. "Selic glass melted with borent heated over pure wood-lit flame. A mere experiment, but it worked, nonetheless."

"Doctor," Emily whispered softly so only he would hear. "Did you say those were the ingredients?"

"There's another ingredient he's missing," the Doctor whispered back. He turned back to Magus, a curious look on his face. "Just selic glass, borent and fire? Nothing else?"

Magus shook his head, Emily didn't doubt the honesty that lie in every wrinkle on his old face. "No, sir. Only those things."

"Right. Well, we'll take this one then," he replied, pointing at the rose and thorn wrapped one without hesitation.

"We will?" Emily whispered, as the old man nodded and hurried off. Why would they want to buy a mirror that was likely to trap one of them. Moreover, why were they buying a full mirror in the first place? The TARDIS had plenty of full length mirrors and this would just be another random artifact they would have to carry around throughout space and time.

"Neurotranic energy must have gotten in by combining itself with raw substance," the Doctor ranted quietly, completely ignoring Emily's question. "At least we know Magus isn't the real problem. Now, my guess is that if we find out a way to break the portal, we'll be able to fight our way back through. Now the only problem is, only one of us can get in."

"You're not going to leave me here!" Emily half shouted, and was quickly subdued by the Doctor's hand covering her mouth.

"No shouting please," he said, slowly taking his hand away. "No, I can't go in because I need to see if there's a way to break the mirror from the outside. You were born on these stories, you should be able to work your way through them."

"You've been alive for over nine hundred years and you don't know the stories?" Emily asked disbelievingly.

"That's not the point," the Doctor argued.

"I'm not about to fall asleep for a hundred years waiting for you to save me," Emily said crossly, folding her arms.

"You won't," he reassured her. "Now, here's why I can't go inside. You humans were born on these stories. Your race created these tales. You know them by heart. Me? I merely glanced at them in passing. I can't simply read through the tale once and know it, therefore run through it. You would know if something was different in the story. Therefor you are the only one who can crack the code from the inside of the mirror."

"You really want me to go in there?" Emily inquried him, feeling her stomach turn.

"I'm not exactly sure which stories these are even," the Doctor explained.

"Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty," Emily answered automatically.

"Is everything alright?" Magus's voice cut their small argument. Both Emily and the Doctor looked at him, shaking their heads and simultaneously saying "No."

Magus looked a bit confused but said nothing in reply to their odd behavior. "Let me simply carve my name in the back and then you can take your new treasure away," he said with a smile, disappearing behind the large floor mirror.

"Emily," the Doctor said, "I can't do this without your help." He looked at her intensely.

"Alright," she said reluctantly giving a small sigh. "I'll do it. I may not like it but I'll do it. But if I have to sleep for more than a day I'm going to severely hurt you."

"Of course you won't," he said with a smile. "I'm your only way home."

Emily gave a soft smile. She didn't want to go home. Home was where she had just come from, and compared to this life it was dull and unimportant. Sure, her sister and friends probably missed her, but it didn't seem to matter at this point. She suddenly had a strong desire to help these people; she was prepared for almost anything.

"Just let me go to the loo first," she replied. "I don't know how long I'll be in there."

"It's behind the desk, and down the hall," Magus's voice rang through the air as he stepped from behind the mirror. "First door on your left."

"Exactly how much of that did you hear?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh, just the lavatory part. But while she's busy, why don't we go over price?"

"Oh, right," the Doctor replied, digging through his pocket.

Thoughts circled through Emily's mind as she left the two of them alone to talk money. First of all, being a traveler that the Doctor was, how would he afford such a pricey mirror? It wasn't like he was paid to continuously save planets and races.

And when he did save them, no one ever really thanked him. Emily made a mental note to do so when returning. He deserved to be thanked for his services. He saved lives without being asked to. Why shouldn't anyone thank him?

And what happened to these races after the Doctor stopped by for a checkup? Did they just go about their lives normally as if nothing had ever happened? Emily sincerely hoped every other race wasn't nearly as arrogant and idiotic as humans could be. She gave a small chuckle; now she was referring to her race as a different species.

As Emily walked back towards the room where the mirrors stood, she passed by the desk. Magus was standing behind it, shuffling through papers. He smiled at her as she passed.

"I must say," he said, starting idle chatter. "I wish I could be as financially lucky as the two of you are." He gave a small chuckle.

"I beg your pardon?" Emily asked, quite bewildered.

"Your credit," Magus replied, as if he was reminding her something obvious. "You have unlimited credit for here. Your companion Smith put it on his credit account."

Smith? Oh, Emily reminded herself, he had to mean the Doctor. She smiled. Of course he would have had to give him a name for something like that. 'The Doctor' didn't really cut it when it came to names unfortunately.

"Oh, right," Emily replied, acting as though he had just reminded her of the obvious. "Of course. Well, thank you for your business."

"And thank you," he replied with a small bow of the head. "I hope you enjoy your mirror."

"Looking forward to it," she mumbled to herself, giving a small chuckle as she left him, going back to the room. She paused in the doorway, looking around the room before turning back to Magus.

"Mr. Magus?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Where did Mr. Smith go?" She turned back to the empty room, looking around. Perhaps he had stepped behind the floor mirror? She glanced around it carefully. No Doctor.

"He should be in here," Magus replied, following her into the room, looking around. "That's peculiar," he mumbled.

Emily was utterly confused. He wouldn't have left her alone in this strange world. And she certainly wasn't going into the mirror fairytale world without him there. She stared at her reflection in the finished mirror. Emily's heart suddenly halted.

"No…"

Emily ran forward to the mirror, her hands slamming against the glass as she tried to gaze in. She tried to peer in never seeing past her shadowed reflection. She could have sworn she had just seen a small shadow, just as she had with Dimitrius.

"No!" Emily screamed, tears filling her eyes, her fists pounding on her own resistant reflection. "Doctor! Don't leave me here! I can't do this by myself! You said you couldn't find your way through the mirror! Doctor! Don't leave me! Come back!"


	6. Alone

Disclaimer: The Doctor Who ideas, main characters, and places all mentioned in the BBC show do not belong to me. They belong to BBC. The only things that belong to me are the new characters and the story line. The references to the fairytales belong to the Brothers Grimm. Enjoy.

* * *

_Doctor Who: Magus's_ _Mirrors_

Chapter 5: Alone

Something was wrong. Something was very different and very wrong. The Doctor stood up from his seated position on the ground inside, what looked like, a fourteenth century stable.

"What?" he asked incredulously looking around.

This couldn't have been right. He looked down at himself, now completely confused at the different attire he was wearing. Royal attire that matched the era of the stable he was in.

"But—how—what?"

He tried to dig for his pockets only to be highly troubled when he found he hadn't any. No pockets meant only one thing: no sonic screwdriver. He was severely in trouble now. He suddenly realized what had happened.

"No!" he yelled out to no one. He looked around, as though expecting to see someone there, but no such luck arose. "You weren't supposed to take me!"he yelled to the air. "You were supposed to take Emily! The one who knows which bloody fairy tale this is!"

He sighed, pacing a few places where he stood. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. Emily was supposed to be the one to go into the mirror, not him. He tried to remember back to what the two fairy tales the mirrors were. Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, right? Now all he had to do was find out which one he was in.

"I wish I had my sonic screwdriver," he mumbled to himself. "At least then I'd have something recognizable in this place."

"My lord?" a voice called out. The Doctor turned to face a man watching him curiously. The Doctor glanced around before pointing at himself.

"Me?"

"Of course, My Lord," the stranger replied. "Are you ready to go on your riding hunt with Lord Herald and Duke Jacob?"

The Doctor thought about this for a moment. If he was going to find anything out, he may as well play along until he knew which story this was.

"Yes," the Doctor finally replied smugly, acting more as a royal he thought would act. "Yes, tell them I'll be out shortly."

* * *

The Doctor did not return. Several hours had passed and still, there was no sign of him. Just as all the other townsfolk before him, he too had vanished into the looking glass. He was the only one who could possibly know how to break the mirror's curse from the outside of the fairytale world itself and he was gone.

The Doctor had left Emily utterly and completely alone.

Emily had been forced to tell Magus exactly what had been going on. His reaction, as she had expected, was pure horror. Having been isolated from everyone else, he hadn't known all the horrid things his masterpieces had done.

Determined not to do anything horrid to another soul, he had determinedly resolved to destroy his final mirror, but Emily had refused. She had insisted he finish his latest work, though she never told him why.

The Doctor had said Emily might be able to break the code from the inside. She was part of the species that made these tales and grew up on them. If there was anyone on the planet that could stop the fairytales and bring everyone back, it was only she. She shuddered at the thought of what would happen if she wouldn't be able to succeed. Emily shook her head. Not succeeding wouldn't be an option. She had to bring the Doctor back.

Eight hours after the Doctor's disappearance, Magus was still working hard on the mirror. All the carving had been finished not too long before and now he was working on the glass part. The frame was just as magnificent as any of the others. A single shoe Emily supposed was supposed to be made of glass sat in the top center circle of the frame. She had been right, it was Cinderella's story. As Magus had been working on the mirror, Emily had taken the time to reread Grimm's version of Cinderella so as not to be confused with any other version she might have heard about.

Emily wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do when she found whatever it was out of place. In truth, she wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do period. All she knew was that she had to do something.

"Finished, ma'am," Magus's voice came from the back room. His cheeriness had changed to pure fear combined with guilt. Emily didn't blame him.

"Great," Emily replied, coming over to help him carry the mirror over to the frame. There was no need to break it. It had taken long enough to make the piece and they didn't need seven years of bad luck; they had enough bad luck at the moment as it was.

With Emily's help, Magus carefully placed the mirror into the frame with almost no difficulty. Emily stood back to admire the tall frame before turning to Magus.

"Aren't you going to write your name on the back?" she asked.

Magus shook his head in disbelief. "Madame," he implored. "You have told me terrible things that have happened with my mirrors. And then you tell me to finish this final one so you yourself can be consumed by its treachery? I cannot allow it. If I do not finish the mirror, the magic cannot be done and you will not become victim as well."

"You don't understand," Emily tried explaining. She knew he'd never understand anyway. "I've got to go inside. If I don't, who knows what will happen. It's the only way to save everyone."

"I'm begging you, ma'am," he whispered. "Don't make me grow a guilty conscience. I am horrorstruck at what I have done already. I want nothing more to do with it."

"Please," Emily demanded more than asked back. "Don't ask me to ignore the fact that people need me."

Magus watched her with sad eyes. He took a deep breath and walked as one condemned around the mirror to inscribe the final five letters into its back. Emily followed to make sure he finished his final masterpiece.

Once his name was inscribed Emily stood in front of the mirror. She wasn't sure exactly how this was supposed to work. If the mirror was a portal, or a doorway, she'd be able to walk right through it right. Tentatively, very aware that Magus was watching her with wide eyes, she reached out to touch the glass.

Her fingers were forced to stop as they hit solid surface, doing no more than producing a reflection. Emily sighed in disappointment. Now what? She was sure they hadn't done anything wrong. Magus himself said this was how he finished mirrors. His name was the final touch. To her dismay she heard the carpenter breathe as sigh of relief.

Emily turned to glare at him. "You're thankful that people are still trapped inside your handiwork?" she asked him with eyebrow raised. That kept him quiet.

Emily thought hard. They had to be missing something. The mirror itself looked finished, it was done. She had helped him complete it so it would be done faster. It suddenly clicked inside Emily's brain. Without warning she grabbed the carving tool out of Magus's hands and ran around to the back of the mirror.

"What are you doing?" he asked, completely confused, and following her.

"Finishing the mirror," Emily replied.

Emily was no carpenter; she knew that. She had no knowledge of how to work with wood or carving tools. In short she had no idea what she was doing in the slightest. But not knowing how to carve wood into a masterpiece art didn't stop juveniles from carving their names into park benches. Knowing she was probably ruining it, she took the tool and carefully inscribed five more letters onto the back of the wooden frame.

E-M-I-L-Y.

Now the mirror was finished. It couldn't have worked before because she didn't have her name on the back. She had helped put the mirror together, that meant she also needed to signify the mirror was finished.

"What good will that do?" Magus asked, completely bewildered.

"It will make all the difference," Emily replied, replacing herself in front of the mirror once more. She was beginning to feel fear once again, but it was still over mined by the determination to save the Doctor and everyone else. She might not have been helping everyone for hundreds of years, but that wasn't going to stop her from trying.

Once again, she reached out her hand in front of the mirror, slowly bringing her finger toward the reflective surface. She wasn't sure, but it seemed by a trick of the light, the mirror was luring her forward for a closer look. She reminded herself to remember that she had to keep focus. She was thankful, in the least, that she wasn't condemned to sleeping one hundred years.

This time her hand didn't stop at the mirror's edge. Instead, it sunk into the surface. The mirror iced over instantaneously where she touched it, climbing up around the edge of her finger where it was closest to the mirror. Damn it! Emily thought to herself. That was really cold!

"Miss, pull away!" Magus cried suddenly in frantic yells. "You mustn't get trapped! Please! Pull away!"

"I can't!" Emily cried back. It was true. Even if she had wanted to pull back, she wasn't able to. The mirror was holding her fast and even pulling her inward. She was partially fearful, but she knew she couldn't back out now.

Magus quickly grabbed her other arm and attempted to pull her away. But the more he pulled, the harder the mirror pulled her back in.

"Let me go!" Emily cried. "That hurts!" She pulled back on Magus and quickly pulled out of his grasp. The force made her arm go farther into the mirror, it was now up to her elbow.

Emily began to panic. What would happen if it reached her face? Would she be able to breathe in the mirror? The Doctor may have been wrong all along. What if when someone went into the mirror they died?

She looked around and noted Magus had disappeared. She was thankful for that; it might be better if he didn't watch, seeing as he felt that it was his fault. On some degree it was, but mostly it wasn't. He couldn't have known something like this could happen. At least it was stopped before any more damage could be done.

There was a sound of things crashing to the floor in the other room before Magus appeared, this time carrying a huge hammer. Emily's eyes widened.

"Don't you dare!" she yelled, now severely panicked. What would happen if he smashed the mirror and her arm was still trapped inside? It wasn't something she was very eager to find out at the moment.

"I can't let another person fall victim to my monstrosities," Magus cried, walking forward raising the hammer to break his newest mirror.

Emily couldn't let him go through with it. He wouldn't create another mirror and she wouldn't be able to help anyone. Taking a deep breath, Emily lunged forward into the mirror. All she left behind was a cry of agony as her body went into the ice-tempted mirror that was to be her prison until she could find a way to escape.

Emily felt as though she were being consumed by an iceberg. Her skin was so cold it burned intensely. She wanted to scream but she found she was unable to move. Her vision was completely black. Her head was swimming as if she was on a full speed merry-go-round that had no intention of stopping.

And then, suddenly, it stopped. She was on her back, lying on some sort of blanket on top of a hard surface. Her clothing felt different as well. Her skin no longer felt cold, but more like it had been newly covered with warm ashes that rose from a kitchen fire when one sat close.

Emily opened her eyes and looked around. She was inside an old kitchen, lying on the hearth in front of a dying fire. Her hair was held back by a scarf and she was dressed in an old patched dress and apron.

A sudden bell on the wall made her jump. She looked around and noticed it, along with two others, attached to a string that went off into the roof. Emily sighed. It had worked, she had made it into the mirror. But now she was stuck as Cinderella until she could find out how to get out of this fairytale nightmare.


	7. Fairytale Come True

Disclaimer: The Doctor Who ideas, main characters, and places all mentioned in the BBC show do not belong to me. They belong to BBC. The only things that belong to me are the new characters and the story line. The references to the fairytales belong to the Brothers Grimm. Enjoy.

_Doctor Who: Magus's_ _Mirrors_

Chapter 6: Fairytale Come True

This was starting to get ridiculous. Two hours on a horse, riding aimlessly through the wood for no reason or cause rather than to chat about nothing in particular with two complete strangers, and the Doctor still couldn't tell which fairytale he was in.

I have got to pay more attention to other people, the Doctor thought to himself. He spent so much time telling other people to pay attention to him, he was almost a hypocrite.

He was starting to get tired as well. Sure, he had ridden a horse before. He had even said a French King's mistress from being beheaded riding on a gallant white steed through a large ballroom mirror. Mirror. The Doctor scowled at the word.

"Are you alright, Phillip?"

The Doctor looked up. Right, that was supposedly his name in this place. He tried to think back if either of the princes in Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty's name was Phillip. Well, it was in one of the Disney films, but what little did that tell him. The other person could have been named Phillip as well. As it was for the past few hours, he was stuck, nowhere.

"Yes," the Doctor answered, not as seemingly interested in the conversation as he had pretended to be when they first set out.

"Is something on your mind?" his companion asked. He couldn't remember if this was supposed to be the Duke or Lord that was talking. Well, the Doctor thought, he might as well nudge the conversation in the right direction.

"Oh, I'm just thinking about the future," he replied. He smirked to himself, a Time Lord thinking about the future. It kept him from lying in the least.

"What about the future?" the other asked, looking mildly confused and yet intrigued by the change in topic.

"Oh, maybe a bride someday. What do you two think?"he watched the others carefully for their reaction.

"I'm always thinking about that," the first companion replied. "Father wants me to get married soon so he can have grandkids before he dies."

"Speaking of brides," the second interrupted seemingly not hearing the other companion, "have you two heard the story about the maiden who sleeps in the high tower of a hidden castle for over a hundred years?"

Now they were getting somewhere, the Doctor thought with a smile.

"No," he half-lied. "Tell us the story."

Despite the fact that Emily knew she was in a fairytale and this wasn't her real life, it didn't subtract from the fact that the stepsisters and stepmother were still as annoying as hell. She would have like nothing more than to bash all three of them upside the head with her copper tea kettle and set them out in the barn.

She couldn't risk it though. She would have to play the fairytale exactly how it was until she found out how to get out of the place.

Simply being here made her wonder how children could enjoy such a story. Here Cinderella was, practically worked to death by her relatives. She supposed the moral was to keep a chin up in the darkest times and when the good things come it would make them all the better. Emily snorted. Yeah right. She could barely live through this day, let alone any other day.

Noon was fast approaching and Emily was busy sweeping the stairs. With each sweep she had to continuously remind herself she was doing this for the Doctor, for her family, for everyone who had disappeared. With each sweep she pretended she was scraping the hard straw ruthlessly against her stepsisters' faces. She smirked at the idea. She wished.

There was a soft knock at the front door. Emily turned. She thought a moment, trying to decide which part of the story this would be. If there was a knock on the door, then that would have to be the ball invitations arriving, right?

Quickly she set her broom aside and hurried over to the door, opening with a tad difficulty. It was a rather heavy door. She smiled kindly at the messenger. "May I help you, sir?"

The man was dressed in royal attire, maybe not as royal as a prince but they certainly were nicer than what Emily was wearing. He was wearing a pair of small spectacles. The eye pieces were polished so well, Emily could clearly make out her reflection.

"By order of his majesty, High King of the land, you are to give this to the head of your household," he answered in a snooty voice, holding out a marble white envelope to her. "By order, he must then tell every eligible maiden in the house they are invited to the ball for his son, our prince. There, he will be choosing a bride."

"Thank you, sir," Emily replied, remembering to curtsy slightly as was the norm to any royalty, may they be the royals themselves or simply their servants. The messenger, however, didn't wait for the polite gesture. He simply turned and walked out to the awaiting carriage.

Emily closed the door, looking at the small envelope in her hand. She had a sudden longing to at least wait a little while longer to discover the way out of this place. A ball would be fun. After cleaning all day and helping the stepsisters get ready Emily reminded herself; she was almost obligated to treat herself to a ball.

But then again, she didn't want to fall trap to the fairy tale. Everyone else was counting on her. She couldn't allow herself to become distracted. Silently she climbed the stairs to the upper floor to find the stepmother and give her the letter.

Just as Emily had remembered, she had to help her stepsisters get ready for the ball: mend their clothing, do their hair, get them dressed. Had she not had this sort of experience with her sister and friends during prom, Emily was sure she would have panicked. And just as she remembered, the stepmother refused to let her go to the ball when she asked.

Emily didn't argue. For one, Cinderella never argued in the story, and two, perhaps she could find a way out of this fairytale world inside of the house. She waited until they had left for the ball before practically slamming the door shut behind them.

She looked around the space. This might take a while, Emily thought to herself. If she didn't figure out what was going on soon, she'd have no choice but to continue with the story and go to the ball. That would only take up more of her precious time. She didn't dare not to go to the ball. What if this world had some sort of effect on the actual story? It might change the entire Cinderella fable forever throughout history. That wouldn't necessarily be a good thing.

Emily hurried through the house, checking all of the rooms and corners on the entire downstairs floor. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. With a heavy sigh she leaned against the doorway of the living room, gazing at it with tired eyes. She knew the downstairs couldn't have held any secrets anyway, especially not the kitchen; she had been cleaning it the entire morning.

After searching the entire downstairs for anything that might be out of place, Emily climbed the stairs to search the upper floor. Still there was nothing to be found that might be out of place. She soon found herself in the stepsisters' room, searching through the drawers of one of the dressers. She didn't expect to find anything there either. She had been in this room half of the afternoon helping the stepsisters get ready for the ball.

Something soon caught her eye. Her reflection: a mirror on top of the dresser.

"I wonder," she mumbled moving forward slightly.

Hesitantly, she reached out and slowly pushed a finger on the glass. The only effect she came back with was her finger touching its reflection. She was mildly disappointed. Then again, it couldn't have simply been that easy to get out of.

Giving another sigh, she continued to route around through the house. Still there was nothing, and time was running out before she would have to leave. A bright orange light from the window caught her eye, the sun was setting magnificently in the sky. Emily bit her lip; she had little to no time left. Looking around again when she got back and looking for something out of place at the ball itself was her only option.

Emily tried to remember back to the Cinderella story. How did she get the dress again? In the new version her fairy godmother came and offered her the gifts. But this wasn't the new version of Cinderella. She would have to ask a tree for them. Emily sighed, thinking how stupid she would look talking to a tree. Still, that was how the story went.

Once outside, Emily found the tree in the courtyard, below it was a small gravestone. Curiosity grew inside her and she momentarily forgot about the ball and walked over to see what the gravestone said. It was Cinderella's mother's grave, wasn't it? Knowing what her mother's name was a small interesting fact she could take back with her.

The name, however, was not what Emily had expected. The mere sight of it made Emily jump back in shock, clasp her hand to her mouth and hold back instant tears.

GRACE PORTER

No, Emily though. No, this couldn't be! How could her mother's name have ended up on the headstone? It couldn't have been a mere coincidence that they had the same name. Simply seeing the name was horrible enough, but here in a world that was supposed to be make-believe? This was simply getting too personal for Emily's liking.

Wanting to get away from the place as quickly as possible, Emily quickly wiped away her oncoming tear and turned to the tree, forcing herself not to look back at the headstone.

"Um," she began, fumbling slightly. What does one say to a tree, anyway? "I really wish I could go to the ball?" It was more of a question, but what else was there to do?

Nothing happened, and she didn't expect it to. Emily took another breath, trying to remember exactly how the fairytale had gone. Hadn't there been some sort of rhyme? It then clicked. Emily took a deep breath, reciting the lines she had remembered Cinderella saying to the tree in order to get the dress for the ball.

Like clockwork a golden silk dress and a pair of slippers fell from the tree down in front of her. Emily was slightly astonished that it had worked. But then again, what couldn't happen in a fairy tale?

"I wish I had a tree like this at home," she mumbled with a small smile. That would definitely save her troubles of what to wear in the morning.

Emily wasted no time quickly scrubbing down and changing into the gold dress the tree had given her. Unfortunately, she then remembered, that this version didn't have a pumpkin carriage. She would have to walk all the way to the ball with what little time she had. She hoped time was on her side.

In the story, Emily remembered, Cinderella went to the ball a total of three days before she lost her shoe and was married off to the prince.

Emily didn't want to have to wait three days to find a way out of the fairy tale world. She certainly didn't want to wait until she was married to a prince. She'd have to outright refuse the offer if it came down to that.


	8. Unexpected

Disclaimer: The Doctor Who ideas, main characters, and places all mentioned in the BBC show do not belong to me. They belong to BBC. The only things that belong to me are the new characters and the story line. The references to the fairytales belong to the Brothers Grimm Enjoy.

* * *

_Doctor Who: Magus's_ _Mirrors_

Chapter 7: Unexpected

The Doctor stood in front of a sea of thorns that supposedly led up to a castle. Where the castle was, or if it was under here, he didn't know. All he saw was a huge mountain of green. At least he knew what story it was now, thanks to his companion's story. He was in Sleeping Beauty.

Luckily the Doctor knew how to use a sword; therefore he wouldn't be slashing aimlessly through the thick thorny vines that blocked his path. He unsheathed his handsome blade and readied himself to begin hacking his way through the vines. If he only had his sonic screwdriver, this would have been so much easier.

He had no need to do so, however, for the thorns parted on their own, revealing a path for the Doctor to walk through, blooming with bright flowers.

"Oh," he commented to himself, sheathing the sword and walking through the path. "That's very convenient."

He continued his way up the path, only glancing back once to note the hedges closed behind him. That would make things a bit more difficult coming out, he thought to himself.

He soon found the end of his journey, a large castle stood before him. Just as in the fairytale, everything was asleep. The hosts, the guests, the animals, all were sleeping soundly as they had been for the past hundred years. Even the torches ceased to burn brightly in the halls of the stone castle.

The Doctor searched through all the levels of the castle, which took him quite a while considering it was a castle. Why couldn't the Grimm brothers have made it a simple cottage in the woods? That would have made his job so much simpler.

But no, his job was never simple. Fun, sometimes. Intriguing, always. Exciting, most of the time. Dangerous, more than he would like. But never was his job as a Time Lord simple.

The Doctor gave a sigh. The way out might have been in the chamber where the sleeping maid was supposedly kept. But if it was there, the fantasy reality around him would also have something there that would keep him from finding it out fight away.

Fortunately, he reminded himself, he was a very clever fellow. He would be able to solve any problem that was thrown at him. Well, almost any. He wasn't sure if he would be able to deal with anything that required him to unlock a lock without his sonic screwdriver. He would need a bobby pin for that one and that would take all too long. The Doctor turned his focus back on the problem at hand: getting himself and everyone else out of the Grimm fairytale reality.

The Doctor glanced around the room quickly. It was an ordinary bedroom with nothing out of place. A single bed complete with tapestries stood in the middle and he could see the outline of a young girl lying on the bed.

Had he not been confused by the familiar look of the girl, he might have noticed the large floor mirror in the corner of the room and known that would have been his ticket out. Curiosity drew him onward toward the sleeping maid, and he slowly pulled back the tapestries. The maiden he saw was not one he expected in the least.

He would have recognized her face anywhere. Her beautiful skin, her blonde hair, though curly, still held the same shade and fell just to her shoulders. Beneath her closed eyelids he knew there would be the same delicate shade of brown they always had been whenever she looked at him.

She couldn't have been there for a hundred years as the story said; she looked the exact same age as when he had left her on the beach what seemed like so long ago. His voice, once found in his stuck throat, only came out in a hoarse whisper.

"Rose…"

_

* * *

_

No, Emily thought to herself. Her wide eyes were staring at the prince.

She had arrived at the ball in good time, her feet not hurting one bit, not her dress hem soiled considering how far she had walked. She was still the bell of this ball and the prince had instantly walked over her way when she entered the room. But this was almost too much.

No way in hell was the Doctor the prince of this story!

This was just downright unexpected. She blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't dreaming, but he still stood there at the bottom of the stair, waiting for her as he always was in every story.

The Doctor was supposed to be in the story Sleeping Beauty! How in the high heavens did he get to this place? She couldn't help but be thankful that he was here though. That meant he had found a way through. She slowly descended the stairs for a greeting.

"Doctor," she whispered as he approached a smile forming on her relieved face.

The Doctor looked at her with a quizzical expression. "Doctor?" he asked quietly back, a small smile on his face. "For what reason do you call me this name?"

Damn it. She spoke too soon.

Emily then remembered back to the gravestone in the courtyard that had her real mother's name on it. She had a sinking feeling that this fairytale reality was bending itself around her own reality, and she didn't like it one bit.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," she replied, curtsying politely as Cinderella would have. "I meant, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine," he replied with a polite bow. "May I have this dance?"

Emily grimaced slightly to herself. She was never one for dancing. Stand on the sidelines and watch others dance their way around the floor jealously, maybe. But not actually going onto the dance floor herself. Unfortunately there was always a first time for everything and the story had to continue.

"You may," she replied taking his outstretched hand.

Emily found it rather difficult not to have a regular conversation with this Doctor. It wasn't that he had simply looked like him. It _was_ him. Okay, she admitted, he didn't really have the quirkiness about him. But his smile was the same. His eyes still lit up as they always did when a new problem arose or something exciting came about. Emily had been so sure it was the Doctor from her real life, but at the same time it couldn't have been him.

It was just too weird. What was even weirder was the idea that the Doctor could waltz. Emily had to continuously remind herself this wasn't the real Doctor, it simply looked like him. She wondered why the fairytale world was having such a horrible impact on her.

They continued dancing together, and Emily knew that all eyes were on her, including this reality's Doctor. It made her feel slightly uncomfortable. Yes, she admitted to herself, the Doctor was a rather attractive man. Well, alien. But he was a friend, nothing more. Simply the way the Prince was staring at her made her feel a bit uncomfortable.

As they continued twirling about the rest of the dancers, Emily glanced here and there about the ballroom. To her dismay, there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary.

"Would you care to take a walk with me out into the garden?" she heard his familiar voice ask her. She had a sinking feeling of where this was headed, but she was feeling a bit dizzy from all the spinning and would have welcomed a bit of fresh air.

"I would be delighted," she replied trying to sound cheerful, following from the dance floor. Okay, so delighted was a bit of a stretch, but she wasn't exactly sure what else to say.

Outside the garden was a spectacular. Rose bushes were planted here and there along with many other shrubberies and small trees that Emily couldn't name. Hedges outlined the garden marble walls and a large fountain stood in the center of everything.

"It's so beautiful," Emily said breathlessly in all honesty.

"I'm glad you like it," the Doctor replied, leading her over to where the fountain was. Prince, Emily reminded herself once more. He was the prince, not the Doctor.

Emily was already extremely weirded out by the situation, being alone with someone who looked like and practically acted like the Doctor. She almost gagged at the thought of Cinderella marrying him at the end of the story. That was just too weird for Emily.

She followed him over to the fountain, her mind once again wandering back to the beauty of it. The water was perfectly clear and reflected her perfectly like a mirror.

Mirror, Emily though once again. She gently ran her fingers over the cool water's surface, her image distorting in its waves.

"Beautiful," the prince murmured. Emily had a sneaking suspicion he wasn't talking about the water fountain.

"It certainly is," Emily replied, watching the water move in the ripples she had created.

"It's like you appeared out of nowhere," the prince whispered. Emily held back another gag. The prince continued, having not noticed her reaction. "Just like your reflection in the water. When it's broken by the ripples you're nowhere to be found. But when the ripples, disappear, you appear almost by magic."

Suddenly, something popped up inside Emily's head. She was no longer listening to the prince, even though what he had said had triggered the though. Leaning down closer to the water to her reflection she watched as it slowly pieced back together and the movement died down. Then without warning she splashed her hand into the surface of the water, careful not to hit the prince.

The water shattered in all directions like tiny pieces of glass, reflecting every other part of their surroundings save for the two of them. It was almost as if Emily was peering through a window. She had found the way out.

"Are you alright?" the Prince asked, a bit alarmed and confused by her action.

"I'm wonderful, thanks to you, Your Majesty" she replied, staring at him with a small smile. "But unfortunately I have to leave."

"Leave?" he asked, obviously bewildered. He took her by the hand, delicately as if she might break if gripped too hard. "But you only just arrived."

"I know I just did, Your Majesty," Emily replied, maybe a little too excited. She attempted to somber down a bit. "But I really have to go. Thank you so much for the wonderful dance."

"Can I at least have your name?" he asked, holding onto her as if letting it go would mean he'd be lost forever. It gave Emily small chills that the Doctor, or someone who imitated him, would look at her in such a way. She vowed then and there to herself that the Doctor would never hear about this part of her fairytale nightmare.

Emily shook her head, trying to look sad. "I'm sorry, I have to go."

"Please?" he implored.

Emily, however had already pulled herself from his grip and gave him a small curtsy before hurrying out of the garden into the ballroom. As if on cue, the clock tower struck the first toll of midnight.

Loosing herself among the people in the room was easy enough. Everyone seemed to be bombarding the prince. With little delay, she was soon out of the room and hurrying home. She only hoped she was right or she'd have to live through another day like this.

Emily didn't bother closing the door behind her as she ran into the house she had cleaned herself all day long. She didn't stop running until she reached the second floor in the stepsisters' room. She stopped about ten feet in front of the same mirror she had been staring so intently at earlier that day. She was watching it closely as if daring it to a staring contest.

"We'll see if you can hold me in here any longer," she whispered, taking off her shoe.

With as much force as she could muster, Emily through the shoe strait into the heart of the mirror. The glass made a large crashing sound as the shoe made contact and shattered it to pieces. Beyond the glass was a dark hole, awaiting Emily to walk through.

Emily smirked to herself, proud that she had figured out the puzzle.

"So much for seven years of bad luck after breaking a mirror," she commented.

Emily made her way over, careful so that the broken mirror wouldn't cut her bare foot. She climbed through the awaiting hole she had made and out of the other side.


	9. The Space Between the Worlds

Disclaimer: The Doctor Who ideas, main characters, and places all mentioned in the BBC show do not belong to me. They belong to BBC. The only things that belong to me are the new characters and the story line. The references to the fairytales belong to the Brothers Grimm. Enjoy.

* * *

_Doctor Who: Magus's_ _Mirrors_

Chapter 8: The Space Between the Worlds

Emily looked about the entire space around her before glancing back at where she had just come from. She wasn't at all surprised to see more mirrors. Emily stood up dusting off the dress, slightly torn from just crawling through a broken mirror, she was still wearing. She looked back at it.

It looked exactly like the mirror Magus had carved in his little shop, only it was shattered. Emily could see the back of the wooden frame. Well, she reasoned, there was no going back now. Not that she had any desire to go back. On the contrary she was quite glad to be rid of the fairytale land. Especially the people and how the reality somehow seemed to unexplainably twist its way around her personal life in certain areas.

She turned around and looked about the back of the hall; every single inch of the hall was lined with mirrors. All were of Magus's making from what Emily could tell, save for one. One large mirror stood out by itself at the end of the long hallway. Slowly Emily approached it, watching her reflection draw nearer.

This one wasn't made of wood, but of brass. The entire outside was shaped simply, like the frame of an ordinary mirror. The top center, however, had another engraving like all the others. Upon further inspection, Emily could make out a small, yet easily familiar wooden cottage in the center of a clearing in the wood. It was Magus's workshop. This had to be the way out.

The closer she came to the mirror, however, her reflection began to dissolve and break in places; it was as if the mirror had broken and placed back together perfectly. Many of the pieces were too small to actually see anything, and some were simply pitch black, unable to see anything. Most of the larger pieces only showed beams of wood far in the distance, as if she were looking up from the floor at a ceiling.

There were a few pieces, however, that she could see clearly what was going on. From one large piece she could make out a room from a sharp bottom angle. She could see just beyond the open doorway into another room where there was a desk and someone running in the background. Magus.

In a second piece she could distinguish clearly, she saw the Doctor's mirror, still intact. It merely stood there, as if it were a normal mirror. Emily turned to a third and the final piece that threaded together what was actually going on.

Somehow, one small piece had flow across the room and was showing her the mirror she had gone through. It had been completely shattered when Magus had been trying to break it to keep Emily from passing to the other side. If the mirror was only possible way for her to get back, she was stuck.

She couldn't get back to the Cinderella fairytale world, and she couldn't get back to the real world, then she was permanently trapped in this space between reality and the fairytale worlds. If her thoughts were correct, everyone else would be able to get out safely and she would be stuck here forever, alone.

A tear fell down Emily's cheek as she laid her hand against the solid glass that showed pictures to her like a broken kaleidoscope. It was solid, not letting her budge an inch. She took a deep breath, calming herself. She would have time to cry later.

All Emily could do now was to find a way to get the others out of this place. She couldn't simply break the mirrors. That might have resulted in them being trapped in the world forever. But what if she could enter the other worlds through these mirrors, then maybe she could bring everyone here.

Emily walked back down the long hallway in search of one particular mirror until she found it. The one the Doctor would have been trapped in. She soon found the rose and thorn mirror she knew he was in. Emily took a deep breath, thinking this had to work or else there was no other way, before charging strait at the mirror.

It was as if nothing were there, as if Emily was passing through an open doorway. Perhaps it was because she thought there would be something there to stop her that she soon found herself crashing against a stone cold floor.

"Ow," she groaned, not bothering to push herself up just yet. "That really hurt. Note to self, next time, simply walk through."

Emily gently lifted her head. It appeared she was in, what looked like, a plain empty bedchamber. On second glance however, someone was staring at her from next to the bed tapestries.

"Emily?" Emily could have recognized the Doctor's voice anywhere, but by the sound of it, it seemed her appearance had broken him out of a slight trance.

She quickly stood up, dusting off the skirt of her dress, knowing she must look ridiculous like this princess like dress. She glanced up and paused when she saw the doctor though. He, she decided, looked more ridiculous in a prince outfit than she did in a dress. The suit and overcoat suited him much better.

"Doctor," she replied to his question and greeting. She glanced over at the bed where laid the blonde beauty. She wasn't sure who exactly this person was, but considering how people whom she was supposed to be connected with in Cinderella were close to her, she expected the same was for the sleeping girl.

"How did you get here?" he asked, slightly bewildered. Obviously he had been in this fairytale far too long.

"I found my way through," she explained, "Just like you said I would. I kept my eyes open and made my way through the fairytale." She glanced over at the girl sleeping on the bed.

"No one," he muttered turning his back on her and positioning himself so Emily couldn't see her properly. "Just an old friend."

Emily had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to it than that, but said nothing. She suddenly began piecing together why the Doctor said Emily would have been able to navigate through the words better than he did.

The Doctor knew why characters were taking shape of people they knew. This simple knowledge seemed to make the fairytale world have a stronger effect on him than it did Emily. She would ask him about it when they were both back in the hallway, when everyone else had gotten out.

"You said you found your way through," he continued, the quirky smile growing on his face that she had grown accustomed to. She would miss it so much when he left. Emily would try not to think about that now. That would be simply one more thing on the Doctor's conscious, he would find out soon enough.

Emily nodded. "Through the mirror," she quickly pulled off her other shoe and positioned herself right in front of the mirror.

"What are you doing?" asked the Doctor. Emily ignored him; instead she pulled her arm back so as to strike the mirror at full force. "Wait, Emily!" the Doctor shouted, hoping to stop her. "You could cut yourself."

The shattering sound of glass breaking signaled Emily's second encounter breaking a mirror. Seven more years of bad luck, she thought to herself. What were seven more if she had eternity to spend in this place? Without waiting to explain she crawled through the hole and into the familiar hallway. Luckily the Doctor was close to follow.

She turned to face him, a big smile on his face as he climbed through before the gateway sealed itself.

"Oh, brilliant!" he exclaimed, his smile growing wider. "This is absolutely brilliant. And look!" he pointed at the large mirror. "There's the way out! Excellent job, Emily. Now, let's get everyone out!"

Emily gave a small sad smile to herself. "You're welcome," she mumbled, sure he wouldn't hear her.

"I'll go through the portals to get everyone and you can usher them out of this hall, okay?" he continued, not even taking notice of her odd mood. Emily thought it best that he shouldn't either. She merely smiled and positioned herself in front of everyone's exit. Everyone's except hers.

"Ready when you are, Doctor," she replied as he went through the first mirror.

Getting everyone out took long enough, though Emily didn't mind. That simply meant it gave her a longer time to figure out what to say to the Doctor when it was finally time for him to leave.

Little more than what could have been an hour later the only mirror that remained intact was the exit mirror.

"Once the two of us are out of here, it will be sealed off," he replied. He walked right up next to the mirror so the two of them were facing it side by side. "Magus would have learned his lesson and won't be using those materials to make any more mirrors. He'll go back to the old fashioned way. Not as high quality of a reflection, but it won't send you off to another world either."

Emily gave a small laugh. She would have to tell him now.

"Ladies first," he offered her to leave first.

Emily felt tears welling up in her eyes, taking a few steps back so he was between her and the mirror. "Doctor," she began, unable to hold back the choking in her voice. "I just wanted to say thank you. I don't know why, but of anybody you could have taken with you in the entire universe, it was me."

The Doctor's look of delight that their problems might be over had fallen in seconds. It was replaced with a look of deep concern. "Emily, what's wrong?"

"I know I didn't deserve it," she continued completely ignoring his question as her tears fell to the ground. "But even though I haven't known you very long, before you left I wanted to thank you so much for the adventures. They've meant so much to me."

"Emily, what are you talking about? You're going back as well." he asked her, watching her closely, his voice low. There was a small silence where Emily didn't say anything before he asked, "What happened?"

Emily swallowed, wiping the tears from her eyes. "The Universe is waiting for you, Doctor. You should really go."

The Doctor suddenly grabbed her gently yet firmly by the shoulders. It reminded her of how the Doctor in her fairytale had held her hand. It made her slightly uneasy. Not because of the fact that she didn't like him touching her. It was more of the fact that she wouldn't be touched by anyone ever again after him.

"I can't get through," she replied after what seemed like days. The Doctor was watching her very carefully before he removed his hands from her shoulders and instead placed them on either side of her head.

"Close your eyes and be very still," he replied, closing his own eyes.

Emily did as she was told, and a series of images flashed her mind. Mainly they were the images she saw in the big mirror, unlike the other images everyone else saw. Soon enough, they were gone and all she could see was the blackness behind her eyelids.

"Your mirror is broken," he commented finally, his voice extremely flat. Emily kept her eyes closed but nodded. "I'm not about to leave you," she then heard him say.

Emily opened her eyes and shook her head. He couldn't stay here with her, the Universe needed his help. She was merely one person, and one person could be lost in the greater cause. She couldn't let the rest of the universe fall into ruin if he stayed.

"You have to go," Emily argued. "You're needed elsewhere."

"I can't just leave you here," the Doctor argued back, standing his ground.

Emily couldn't see how she could win this one. For a fraction of a second she was glad he decided to stay. At least she wouldn't be alone.

As awkward as it probably was for the Doctor, she couldn't help but come forward and give him a tight hug. Surprisingly, he returned it, though not as tightly. Conscience then hit Emily. She couldn't be greedy. The Doctor would have to go back.

"Goodbye," she whispered, her voice choking slightly. Before he could reply she let go and quickly pushed him backward. The force sent him through the mirror, unable to return. What she could see through the broken pieces were some going dark as he fell backward to the ground. Surprisingly she could hear everything happening on the other side of the mirror.

The three pieces that gave her the best view also made her heart break. The Doctor, having fallen out of the mirror, had caused a ruckus and Magus came running into the room, completely surprised at seeing the Doctor. The Doctor on the other hand, look completely horrified.

"No! Don't do this!" he yelled, pulling himself back up onto his feet and grabbing hold of the mirror he had just fallen through. Just as Emily predicted, it wouldn't let him back into the fairytale world.

Emily turned her back on the mirror and slumped to the ground, unable to block out the Doctor's protests that were of no use. This time, she didn't bother trying to hold her tears back, as no one would ever see them fall.


	10. Trapped

Disclaimer: The Doctor Who ideas, main characters, and places all mentioned in the BBC show do not belong to me. They belong to BBC. The only things that belong to me are the new characters and the story line. Enjoy.

* * *

_Doctor Who: Magus's_ _Mirrors_

Chapter 9: Trapped

Silence had long since fallen upon the hall where Emily sat alone and trapped. The Doctor's words of desperate pleading and reassurance had long sense ceased. Why would he have stayed anyway? With the mirror broken, there was no way to get Emily out. No reason for him to stay. He could be saving worlds that needed him, not comforting one insignificant human.

Her tears had long sense ceased to fall, too much in despair to cry out. Her cheeks were raw from the amount of times she had wiped at them. Emily's mind wandered back to what little time she had spent with the Doctor.

She had only met him recently. She remembered back to the first time she had seen him, in a bookstore. She smiled to herself as more memories passed through her mind. The one where she had hit him with a frying pan made her chuckle. She learned about the unimaginable depths of time and space, traveled in a space ship the Doctor called the TARDIS. There was so much she still didn't know about the Doctor, or the universe.

Little had she known back then that chance encounter with the Doctor would lead her into a world that would seal her fate, eternally. Had agreeing to go with him been worth it? If given a second chance would she make the same choice?

She thought back to her life at home and how mediocre everything seemed to the recent time she had spent with the Doctor. There she felt like nothing. Coming on this journey, she felt like she had been worth something, she did something right. She saved an entire race from disappearing. The answer was all too clear.

Of course, it was all worth it.

Emily thought back to how her life might have been like had she not met the Doctor. Her life would have been a dull bore. True she wouldn't have been trapped in such a lonely place, but she wouldn't have come so close to the stars had she not agreed to come. Emily couldn't have been more appreciative of the Doctor for what he had done for her.

Emily then thought back to her friends and her sister then.

To know they would never see her again broke her heart to pieces once more. Before she had been fairly content with the idea of leaving her family to travel with the doctor, but now that reality had dawned upon her she might never, _would_ never see her family again she felt horrible for leaving them so soon without even saying goodbye.

Emily had a vision of what probably would happen back home: she would end up as one of those missing people on the news, the kind with no leads and no suspects. In time she would be completely forgotten, never found. It would worry her sister to pieces, but then again, she would always have the hope that somewhere Emily was alive.

If being stuck in here was even alive, Emily thought to herself. She wondered how much time was passing back in the real world. Had it only been a few minutes or an hour? How long did she have left to rot in this place before she was dead? Chances were she was going to die of either starvation of thirst. At least she was prepared for it, though it didn't mean she had to like it.

She glanced around at the lit hallway before her eyes fell upon the far end. It was completely dark, something she hadn't noticed before. That was odd, Emily thought to herself. What could cause such darkness?

Emily wasn't afraid of the dark in general, but something about this was off. The way the lighting was, she should have been able to see at least some of what was there, but no. Complete and utter darkness, so thick sound might not have been able to find its way through it. What was worse was that it seemed to be ever so slowly creeping its way up the hallway. It was as if, since all the mirrors had been destroyed save for the way out, that this space was erasing itself.

Emily swallowed. Her being here alone by herself at least gave her some hope that within the time she had she could figure out a way out of here. In the least that the Doctor hadn't abandoned her completely and would figure a way to get her out.

Emily glanced back at the mirror behind her. The only sound was a type of static that was coming from the other side. The pieces were completely dark now. It seemed the darkness had erased behind the mirror as well. Emily began to feel fear for the first time.

"Doctor…" she mumbled to the empty space, eyes glued on the impending darkness that had now crept halfway across the room, "please hurry."

* * *

"No! Don't do this!" the Doctor yelled frantically, staring at the mirror in disbelief, at his own expression. He couldn't let her do this. Too many had lost their lives on his account trying to help him. And now Emily was the newest victim to this plague.

He'd been the one to offer her to come with him. And now she was stuck in that space between the worlds because he'd been the one to tell her to go through.

There was no way he would simply leave her like this. There was a way in, there had to be a way out. The Doctor turned on the spot to Magus, a fire in his eyes.

"Magus," he said, his voice seething through his teeth. "Remake her mirror."

Magus looked back at him with horror driven eyes. "R-remake the mirror? But sir!"

"Now you listen to me," the Doctor growled, grabbing Magus by the shirt collar and pulling him closely. "My friend is trapped within that mirror, and whether you like it or not, you are going to fix it so she can get out. I'm not leaving her behind!" Too many had been left behind before, and those had been more than mere acquaintances.

Magus saw the fury in the Time Lord's eyes; he dare not refuse him. He simply nodded wordlessly before the Doctor released him.

Magus scurried over to a corner and pulled out a broom and dustpan, to sweep up all the small pieces so they could be melted back together. He couldn't miss one, or the mirror wouldn't be the same as it was before.

The work was tedious, fitting all of the small pieces back together, and Magus cut himself far more than once. But the thought that the girl was trapped because he had broken the mirror combined with the Doctor's persistence kept him going.

The Doctor watched the mirrors, noticing something peculiar. He, being the Doctor, could see things humans and other unsophisticated creatures couldn't see. He could see through the mirror, Emily's back. He could also catch the glimpse of darkness as it began to grow down the hall.

"The space is erasing itself," he whispered, alarm all over his voice. "We only have a few hours before it swallows Emily as well."

"This is going to take much longer than a few hours," Magus muttered, continuing to put the pieces together.

"Then move faster!" the Doctor growled, before turning away. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and went back to the main room to make sure all the small pieces and fragments had been found.

Hours ticked like minutes and soon enough all the pieces were finally assembled together once again. The Doctor glanced in the mirror once more, darkness had reached more than halfway across the room by now. He didn't have too long to look; Magus covered the top with a plank before shoving the mirror into the fire to melt back together evenly.

"How long will that take?" the Doctor asked impatiently.

"Longer than five seconds," Magus replied. "It won't take as long as a normal mirror would take to melt, but it will take time."

"Time is the one thing we don't have at the moment," the Doctor replied. He watched the flames flickering and crackling along the mirror and set it on the table to cool.

About a half hour later Magus pulled the mirror from the depths of the oven. The Doctor knew it wouldn't take as long to cool. The combination of substances magus had used would cool within two to five minutes. Magus pulled the slate from the top of the mirror. The Darkness had crept so far within that hour, it hand now almost reached Emily. She was flattening herself as far against the mirror as she could so it would touch her.

The Doctor quickly left the room.

"Help me with this!" The Doctor yelled, taking hold of the heavy mirror frame. Magus came in and the two of them carried the frame to the mirror.

"Emily!" The Doctor yelled.

* * *

Emily was practically flattening herself against the mirror, tears streaming down her face. Crying out wouldn't have helped. She was practically on tiptoes to keep the darkness from touching her; the sight that nothing was beyond it frightened her more and more the closer it came.

"Emily!"

The familiar shout had Emily spinning around and facing the mirror. There was a large movement behind her as it shifted locations. Somehow, it was no longer broken. The mirror had been fixed.

Instinctively, Emily thrust her arm at the mirror.

"Get me the hell out of here Doctor!" she screamed. She could feel behind her the darkness was tickling her back as it approached.

"The mirror's fixed! You can get through!"

Surprisingly it went through the mirror as though nothing were there. A recognizable pair of hand gripped her hand and pulled her forcefully through the mirror.

There was a slight gravity shift between the place she was and her arm. Her head spun slightly as the force of gravity went from under her to behind her. A pair of rough hands came from behind Emily and pulled her from the mirror before she could fall back inside.

Emily toppled from where the mirror lay on the table onto the floor. She swallowed slightly, her entire body shaking at the thought of what almost happened.

"Heavens," she heard Magus's whisper. She looked up and noticed he was staring at her.

"What?" Emily asked, wondering what more could be going wrong.

"Your hair," he replied pointing.

Emily reached up to grab her hair, and met a surprise: it was shorter than it had been. The darkness had reached it as she was being pulled through the mirror and erased a fraction of what had been there. Not very much was gone, but it still showed how close she had come.

Emily looked up at the Doctor, tears welling in her eyes. She got up, rather shakily, before she pulled him into a tight hug.

"Thank you for not leaving me," she said, her voice shaking.

"Haven't you learned anything?" the Doctor asked. "I didn't leave you the first time. I wasn't going to leave you now."

Emily gave a small laugh and pulled away, wiping her eyes. The Doctor turned his attention to Magus.

"Try not to experiment with any more elements for the time being, alright?" he asked.

Magus nodded. "I'm going back to woodworking. No more mirrors for me." He gave a small laugh before turning and heading back into the wood shop. The Doctor looked back at Emily, giving a small laugh. She couldn't help but return it slightly, still as shaken as she was.

"Let's go make sure all the other people got back safely," he replied. Emily broke into a bigger smile as the two of them left Magus alone to go back through the village.

"It was a good idea, he had," the Doctor replied as they made their way through the woods. "Unfortunately I've had enough fairy tales for a few hundred years."

Emily let out a real laugh this time. Although she wouldn't have lasted that long, she too had had enough of fairy tales to last her a good while as well.


	11. Epilogue: Happily Ever After

Disclaimer: The Doctor Who ideas, main characters, and places all mentioned in the BBC show do not belong to me. They belong to BBC. The only things that belong to me are the new characters and the story line. Enjoy.

* * *

_Doctor Who: Magus's_ _Mirrors_

Epilogue: Happily Ever After

"Well," the Doctor exclaimed from the door of the TARDIS, looking out over the strange planet they had just saved. "That could have been worse."

"How could it have been worse?" Emily asked with a small incredulous laugh. "We get stuck inside of a fairy tale and we begin to think it's real. I don't know about you, but I don't think I could have lasted another day doing chores for those bloody step sisters. Luckily it began half way through the story. Am I right?"

The Doctor gave her no response; he simply looked out over the once desolate town, now swarming with inhabitants going about their daily lives as though nothing had happened within the past few hours.

Emily noted the uncomfortable silence and changed the subject. "I wish I could have said a better good-bye to D-Tri though." She remembered the small wave they had shared before he ran off inside his house with his mother.

"Sometimes it's better not to get too attached," the Doctor commented, staring at his shoes.

Emily watched him closely. "You knew her, didn't you?" she asked. "The girl who was Briar Rose in the story."

The Doctor stayed silent, choosing not to answer. Emily didn't change the subject this time.

"Doctor," she started. "I have half a mind to ask you to take me home right now. But I don't want to go. When I was in that fairytale, there were short times I was beginning to feel like I belonged there. People were there, that I recognized from home." She kept her eyes on the Doctor with a long and serious stare.

"That world was meant to be perfect for you," he replied, finally looking at her. Emily couldn't ignore the sadness in his eyes. "The world was made to be perfect for you. All fairytales end in 'happily ever after' don't they? The whole situation wasn't trying to harm its inhabitants. It was trying to make things better for them."

Emily thought this over long and hard. She didn't quite know what to say to his response. As much as she like the stories, she knew she couldn't actually live in them. She also dare not tell the Doctor about everything that had happened in her world. It wasn't the sight of him as the prince that made her want to stay, after all. It was the sight of him as the prince that made her determined to continue looking for a way out.

"So?" he asked, watching her closely.

"So what?" Emily replied, quite confused.

"Do you want to go home?" He hastily added, "I mean, it's your choice. I'd like for you to stay. I enjoy your company. But if you want to go home, I wouldn't hold it against you."

Emily watched him closely a small smile coming to her face. "As much as I would like to stay," she replied, "I miss my home. I had a lot of time to think while I was trapped in the morror. My family and friends miss me, they need me."

The Doctor watched Emily, and she could see a sadness in his eyes, but I couldn't afford to cost him more time when the universe needed him.

"I couldn't have freed all those people without you," the Doctor said quietly, gazing deep into Emily's eyes. She knew it was his way of thanking her.

"I'll miss you Doctor," she replied. He gave her a nod before making a small motion for her to get into the TARDIS. Emily hesitated, only for a fraction of a second, wondering if she was doing the right thing before following him in.

He closed the TARDIS doors behind them. After a few seconds, the strange blue police box disappeared from view as it flew, once again, into the depths of time and space.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. Again, sorry about the delay in the middle of the story.**

**So we come to an end of Magus's Mirrors. For now, there won't be a third part, but that is subject to change depending on how many readers and reviews the story recieves. If there is a sequel, however, it won't be written until after the New Year starts. Thanks again for reading!**


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